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Like many regions across the globe, Africa will also face the catastrophic effects of climate change in near future if we fail to control it in time. A new study has predicted that many staple food crops will stop growing in sub-Saharan Africa if weather patterns continue to trouble them. Farming community will have to adapt to the change. It also reported that the region’s agricultural landscape will see transformation from climate change by 2025.
The study by researchers at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) predicted which crops will be impacted by climate change. There are some regions which have stopped favoring current staple crops, the researchers said.
For the study, the researchers examined effects of climate change on nine crops that sub-Saharan Africa grows. Three of them—bananas, maize and beans—are currently facing the most significant risk, as per the study.
By the start of next century, more than one-third areas of the region growing maize and bananas will stop providing favorable conditions for the crops. Over 60% of all areas growing beans will become unviable by 2100. These areas will need transformation, the study suggested.
“This study tells where, and crucially when, interventions need to be made to stop climate change from destroying vital food supplies in Africa. We know what needs to be done, and for the first time, we now have deadlines for taking action”, said Julian Ramirez-Villegas, lead researcher and an expert from University of Leeds.
Researchers also said that an effective plan is need to tackle the problem. Governments must start making plans now because these crops will start facing climate change’s consequences very soon, they added. If governments and experts make appropriate plans today, sub-Saharan Africa’s farmers will not lose their food resources, as per the researchers.
